A Warning from the Future
by TKcloud9
Summary: A strange girl appears on Voyager with a warning: Do NOT go down to a certain planet. Who cares about the Temporal Prime Directive, anyway?


**Star Trek Voyager: Disobedience**

They'd had a fight. Again. Janeway sat in her ready room, drinking coffee and feeling depressed. She didn't even remember what the fight was about, but it was the third argument with Chakotay that she'd had in as many days. It was getting ridiculous, and her crew was feeling the stress.

The door chimed. "Come," she said automatically.

It slid open, and Chakotay came in. "Captain," he said, looking at the floor, "I'd like to apologize for my behavior earlier."

Janeway felt a rush of sympathy. She'd started the argument, and they both knew it. "It wasn't your fault, Chakotay," she said simply. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, alert klaxons began sounding. "Captain to the bridge," Tuvok's voice said.

"What now?" Janeway asked, hurrying out of the ready room, Chakotay at her side. "What's up?" she asked.

"Reading a small shuttle, unknown signature," Tuvok said. "It's heading straight for us."

"Shields up," Janeway snapped, assuming the command chair. "Hail them."

"Their comm. doesn't seem to be working," Kim said, trying and failing. "I'm showing massive instrument failure, and the engines are losing power. One lifesign aboard, human, very weak." He stared at the scanner. "The engines of the ship are overloading."

"Bridge to transporter room, beam the occupant of the ship directly to sickbay," Janeway said. Only two seconds after she'd ordered it, the tiny ship on the screen exploded in a blast of white light. In seconds there was nothing left but sprinkled debris. "Transporter room, did you get him?" she asked.

"Aye captain."

She sighed in relief. "Commander you have the bridge." She stood up and headed for the turbolift. Tuvok came with her.

They got to sickbay and found the doctor and Kes working over the slim form of a human girl, dressed in black jeans and a flowing tunic. Small dog - shaped earrings adorned her ears, and her long dark hair was tied in a braid.

"She's suffered massive trauma and electrical shock," the doctor said.

The girl's eyes fluttered open and she caught sight of Janeway and Tuvok. "Worked," she said weakly. Her eyes were a deep blue.

"What worked?" Janeway asked, stepping forward and putting a hand on the girl's arm.

"Captain," the girl said, fading in and out of unconsciousness, "mom..." She passed out.

Janeway and the Doctor shared an incredulous glance. "Did she just say 'mom'?" Janeway asked, raising an eyebrow.

The doctor consulted his tricorder, and his jaw dropped. He ran the results again. "Captain, she is... her DNA confirms that she _is _your daughter."

"How is that possible?" Janeway asked, shocked.

"Time travel," the doctor said simply. "She seems to be about sixteen years old."

Janeway looked at Tuvok. "We need to figure out what happened," she said. "Return to the bridge."

"Yes captain," Tuvok said. As he left, he cast her an uncharacteristically worried glance at her.

Janeway didn't see his look. She was staring at the girl - _her daughter?_ - and wondering silently.

The doctor began to treat their guest, not even requesting that Janeway "butt out" as he usually did. Maybe because she was the captain's future daughter, and family had rights?

Kes sidled around to the captain and said quietly, "She's very beautiful."

"Yes she is," Janeway said.

"I wonder-" Kes started, and then went away abruptly.

Janeway knew what she was about to say. _I wonder who the father is_... Me too, she sighed silently.

The door to sickbay slid open and Chakotay came in, a strange expression on his face. Obviously Tuvok had told him.

He came to stand beside her and looked down at the sedated teenager. "Looks like you," he commented, but that's all he said before he changed the subject. "Harry and Seven are working on the sensor analysis: apparently, she's from the future. About twenty, twenty five years."

"I see," Janeway said. So four to nine years from now, she'd have a daughter. That was comforting... she forced her mind back to the matter at hand. "And the shuttle?"

"From the scans we got, it was definitely Federation in origin, some of it Star Fleet, but they were modified."

Janeway nodded. "Thank you, Chakotay."

He looked at her sympathetically. "Captain," he started, and then just nodded. He turned to look back at her as the sickbay doors closed; she looked very fragile at the moment. His heart went out to her, and he went back inside.

She looked up at him curiously as he came to stand beside her.

He placed his hand on top of hers, where it rested on the side of the biobed. He didn't say anything, but he knew from the expression on her face she appreciated the gesture.

A sigh from the occupant of the biobed made them break their gaze. Janeway looked down. The girl was awake and smiling at them. "I knew it," she said softly. She sat up. "I'm Julia," she said. "I'm not going to tell you my full name."

"We already know," Janeway started.

"That I'm your daughter?" Julia finished. At their startled looks she smiled. "Yes, and you have no idea how good it is to see you again. Now, before you yell at me for breaking the Temporal Directive before I'm even born, let me explain."

"All right," said Janeway, looking amused. "I'm listening. How did you get here, and why?"

Julia nodded. "I built a shuttle with time travel capabilities and came back in time in to warn you."

"Of what?" Chakotay asked quickly.

"When you come to a planet called Milnevia, dearest captain mother of mine, don't go down to the surface. Stay on Voyager." Julia folded her arms and leaned back.

"That's it?" Janeway said. "Don't beam down?"

"Don't beam down," Julia said, nodding. "Don't beam down, don't take a shuttle, don't dive in a suit from orbit. Don't. Go. Down. To. Milnevia." She sighed. "I am now officially grounded for all eternity." At the officers' confused glances, she elaborated, "You told me not to go back in time and try to change it or I'd be grounded. Even you, Cmdr, told me not to go back in time. Huh, _B'elanna _told me not to go, and she knew what was happening." She held out her hands. "However, don't think I'm not usually an obedient child. I am. Quiet, respectful, extremely intelligent. But there are some times when the temporal directive can go to-" she paused. "To Coda's matrix."

Janeway raised an eyebrow. The near - death experience with the matrix - thing was something not very nice. "_I_ let you talk like that?" she inquired. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chakotay grin.

"For the record that's the closest I've come to swearing in five years," Julia informed her, with a superior air. "And that shows you how much I mean it." Her eyes filled with sudden tears and she looked down, blinking rapidly.

"Are you all right?" Chakotay asked.

Julia rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and grinned lopsidedly. At that moment she looked very much like Kathryn Janeway. "It's just, seeing you here," she said, "_alive_..." she trailed off, and stared at the floor, fighting for control.

"Since the Temporal Directive seems to have been flung out the window," Janeway said, "why don't you tell us all about it?"

"Can we go somewhere else?" Julia asked. "I mean, sickbay's nice and all, but..." she trailed off.

They adjourned to Janeway's quarters, since to get to her ready room they'd have to go through the bridge. "Well?" Janeway asked, as the three of them settled on the couch. Even though she and Chakotay were still on rocky ground, she wanted him here.

"Well," Julia said uncomfortably. "Let's start with Mlinevia. In my timeline, one year from now you go down to the surface, and you contract a virus. It's similar to the flu. You got over it quickly enough, and life continued. Fast - forward twenty years, and then you have me. And then, two years ago, you had a relapse of the virus. But this time, it reacted with the New Earth insect bite, and-" she stopped. "In twenty hours you were gone," she whispered. "I thought you- my father, was going to die, too, of grief." Tears started to slip down her cheeks silently, but she kept going. "A little piece of me died, that day. Everyone from Voyager was in shock, but they helped me get through it. I don't know what I would have done without Tom, and B'Elanna, and Harry, and Tuvok. And everyone else, of course." She took a deep breath. "But you- dad, was devastated. You were everything to him, and you weren't there anymore. There was me, of course, and he tried, tried very hard, to be there for me. But a year ago, he got sick. Still sick. The doctors say he's dying of heartache." She smiled sadly. "Before you, went, you told me not to try and change anything. To go on with life, and comfort my father." She raised her head to look at Janeway. "But you forgot who you were talking to. Daughter of a starship captain, daughter of the woman who brought the Voyager home against all odds, a child raised on the stories of 150 people who battled Borg and Kazon and Hirogen and encountered temporal anomalies by the dozen. And with that kind of a background what was going to stop me?" She paused for a moment and continued. "So I started planning. Took our little home shuttle and refitted it with the latest technology, getting Voyager crew to help me. They all knew what I was doing. Everyone told me not to go, like I said, but they helped anyways. Who would stop me from saving their captain and- well anyways. I built it and told my father where I was going. _He_ swore, all right, but he gave me his blessing. And then I came here. But going through the, ahem, tore up my shuttle. Good thing Harry's got really good reflexes." She took a deep breath. "So. To recap. Don't go down to Milnevia, and everything will be just fine."

Janeway was in shock. "How could you?" she asked.

"What?" Julia looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Do you have any idea what you've done to the timeline by coming back in time to warn me?" Janeway asked.

Julia's eyes flashed. "Yes. I do. I've saved you, and saved the absolute love of your life, and saved one hundred and fifty people a terrible, terrible heartache they shouldn't have to feel. I've given Star Fleet back their admirals. I've given the Alpha Quadrant another chance at a peaceful existence. Because you know what happened when you died, _mother_? You didn't go to Cardassia Prime. And there was WAR. In the middle of everything, there was a great big WAR that killed a thousand million people before it could be brought to a ceasefire. Just before I came through the wormhole I got the news: Harry Kim, dead. Tom Paris, dead. Seven of Nine, dead. Icheb, dead. Miral, dead. Ayala, dead. Tuvok, dead. Naomi Wildman, dead. Jean-Luc Picard, dead. Riker, dead. Admiral Paris, dead. Entire worlds, gone. And it will all be prevented because you're _alive_ to negotiate the treaty." She kneeled in front of Janeway and clasped her warm hands around Janeway's suddenly cold ones. "Please, you've got to understand," she said. "If you could see what your death did to my father you would understand- you would have gone back in time yourself to warn you. That's why I did it, most of all." She bowed her head. "I don't know what's going to happen now that I've warned you. But it will be for the better."

Janeway gathered the girl into her arms. "Thank you," she said.

Julia squeezed her tightly. "You won't go to the surface?" she whispered anxiously.

"No."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Janeway said.

Julia nodded slowly. "That's it, then." She sighed. "Me, well, this version of me, is going to be gone, any second now. Quick, do you want to know what the Superbowl scores are for fifteen years from now?"

Chakotay laughed in spite of himself. "I thought I was the only one who watches that."

Julia smiled at him, and then frowned. "I'm still here," she said.

"Yes?"

"I'm supposed to never have existed by now," Julia said. "Why am I still here?" She frowned at Janeway. "You're not thinking of breaking your promise, are you?" she demanded.

"I don't want to die," Janeway said, shaking her head.

Julia frowned and paced in a tight circle. "Then it must be-" she stopped and looked up. "I'm going to be here a while," she said. "It's the time travel device. It provides a shielding effect that takes a while to wear off of the user. The timeline is gone, I'm sure of it. But I'll take longer to fade away..."

"Looks like you're staying on the Voyager," Janeway said.

"You want me to?" Julia asked eagerly. "I mean, the awkwardness and all? No one's figured out who my father is. What about the Temporal P D?"

Janeway gave her a grin. "To the matrix, with it," she said.

Julia hugged her spontaneously. "Sorry," she said, releasing a slightly shocked captain. "It's just- weird, you being you and not you."

"It's all right."

Julia turned to Chakotay, who was grinning. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "But even without the DNA test, you can tell. You are definitely related." He looked at them, standing there side by side. Both slim and petite, with the same delicate, intelligent features, and the air of strength and leadership. Only Julia was a little taller. He smiled. "Your dad's a fortunate man."

Julia smiled at him. "Don't worry," she said, taking one of his hands. "You get your share of babysitting opportunities."

Janeway looked at them, standing there side by side, and her eyes opened wide in shock. The same dark brown hair, the same air of gentleness and determination. _Is it possible? In the future?_ She reminded herself to breathe and tried to look normal. Chakotay glanced at her curiously but didn't think anything of it. Julia, on the other hand, shot her a sharp glance, and the edges of her mouth twitched up in a smile... the same way Chakotay would look at her, sometimes. _It is..._

"How about lunch?" she suggested.

"You two ladies go ahead," Chakotay said, shaking his head. "I've got things to do." He left.

The two went down to the mess hall in silence, and when they entered, everyone stared. Stared long and hard, and whispered. Julia didn't seem to mind. She greeted everyone by name cheerfully and told them her first name. Never her last.

"Hello," Neelix said as they got in line for lunch.

"Neelix!" Julia said happily. "I haven't seen you in forever. Well, my time. I'm Julia."

"Welcome to Voyager," Neelix said cheerfully. "Today's special is roast beef and mushroom stew."

"Just the stew, please," Julia said. "I'm a vegetarian."

"Oh really?" Neelix said, interested. "Just like Cmdr. Chakotay."

That had been Janeway's thought. She led Julia over to a table and they sat down. "How can you be my daughter and not like meat?" she asked, half - teasingly.

Julia shrugged. "I never liked the idea of eating animals," she said. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary..." she grinned. "Or Uncle Tom makes his famous barbecued ribs. They're too good not to eat."

"Did I hear ribs?" Tom asked, from the next table over.

Julia laughed. "Yes you did," she said. "It's good to see you."

"Thanks, I think."

"No really," Julia said. "In my time, you just died."

Tom grimaced. "Bad?" he inquired.

"Bad enough." Julia grinned. "But I've taken care of it. You're going to live to see- well, very happy days."

Tom grinned. "Good."

They finished lunch and Julia retired to her assigned quarters. Janeway went to her ready room and paced, then went to her quarters and paced some more. She was thinking very, very hard.

Chakotay knocked on Julia's door and waited.

"Come in," Julia said.

He went in, and found her sitting on the floor, next to the coffee table. "Chakotay," she said, standing up.

"Did I distrub you?" he asked quickly, not wanting to intrude.

"Not at all," she said. She went over and hugged him. Instinctively, he returned the embrace. She smiled faintly. "What can I do for you? Still want those baseball scores?"

He smiled, but his thoughts weren't on sports. "In your story, you mentioned Harry, and B'Elanna, and Tom, but you never mentioned me," he said. "Where am I, in all this?" He waited for an answer.

Julia frowned up at him. "You're not dead," she said. "You make it to the Alpha Quadrant. You're pardoned for crimes as a Maquis, and promoted to captain. You teach tactical and astrophysics at Star Fleet Academy. You have a family."

"And?" Chakotay asked.

Julia looked into his eyes. "And when Kathryn Janeway dies your heart dies too."

He stared silently.

"You _do_ love her, don't you?" Julia asked, worried by his silence. "She loves you. The way you looked at each other in sickbay, I could tell. From the first moment you saw her, you _told_ me. And then on New Earth... that ancient legend, I think she must have told it to me as a bedtime story dozens of times. One year, was all it took. The Voyager got home and nearly the first thing you did was ask her to marry you. Everybody was expecting it. Seventeen years it lasted, and then she died, and you did too. You wished it was you instead of her. It was you I came back to save. Both of you. A love that lasted eight years before being realized shouldn't be stopped by a random virus. And now it won't. But you've gotta make sure." She looked at Chakotay, and then at Janeway, who'd slipped in, unnoticed, at the beginning of Julia's speech. She smiled. "The effect of the shield is wearing off. I'm going to be erased from history in seconds. Mother. Father. Don't let my actions be in vain. Live. Make it home. Love each other. Love me. Please." She grinned. "And don't tell the doctor, but he does find a name. Eventually." Before either of them could move, she was gone, as if she'd never existed.

Janeway stared at the spot where her future daughter had been standing. She looked at Chakotay. He looked at her. They stared at each other, and Chakotay stepped forward to wrap her in a pair of strong arms. "She had your spirit Kathryn," he said quietly.

She rested her head against his chest. "Ours," she corrected, looking up at him. "The first daughter we have is going to be named Julia."

He looked down at her, surprised, but didn't say anything.

She returned the gaze. "Don't want to disappoint her, do we?" she asked.

Chakotay responded with a gentle kiss. But that was as far as they went. The two of them stood there, in each other's arms, drawing strength from the knowledge that there _was_ a happy ending to the Voyager's journey.

"Doctor to Janeway," her combadge went off.

Reluctantly, they pulled apart. Janeway hit her commbadge. "What is it doctor?" she asked.

"I've figured out who Julia's father was," the doctor said.

"We know," Kathryn said, glancing at Chakotay and sharing a smile with him. "Forget about it."

"Aye captain," the doctor said quickly. "I never knew what we were talking about."

Janeway smiled. "Good. Oh, and doctor."

"Yes?"

"There's hope for you yet," Janeway said. "Janeway out."

Chakotay grinned. "She said not to tell him."

"I didn't," Janeway said.

They smiled at each other, and then, Janeway turned away. "I'll see you on the bridge, commander," she said, in her captain's tone.

Chakotay hid a sigh. But that was the way it had to be. "Yes ma'am," he said, nodding.

"Where's julia?" Tom asked when Janeway went up to the bridge.

"Gone," Janeway said briefly.

"Oh." He paused. "I'm sorry, captain."

She smiled at him. "There's hope for us all yet," she said.

"Yes ma'am."

There was an awkward silence on the bridge. Everyone wanted to know, but no one wanted to know. You could cut the tension wiht a knife. Janeway eventually sighed. "She never said who her father was," she said. "Just for your information."

Everyone was silent, thinking about this. "Oh," Tom said. He turned to his console. He turned around again. "Did she say when her birthday was, by the way?"

"Tom," Janeway said, half- scolding.

"Right. Sorry." He turned around again.

Chakotay and Janeway shared a glance, and both of the tried very, very hard not to grin.


End file.
